Gemstones and Gravestones

Gemstones and Gravestones

Sandra Whinnem

Sandra Whinnem

Living next door to the local senior center, ten-year-old Henry finds refuge from the school bully among the quirky retirees. He grieves the loss of Ernest; his elderly friend and mentor. Unbeknownst to Henry, Ernest’s spirit lingers nearby. The ghost watches over the boy while attempting to guide his aged friends to the evidence that will incriminate the men responsible for his death.Living next door to the local senior center, ten-year-old Henry finds refuge from the school bully among the quirky retirees. He grieves the loss of Ernest; his elderly friend and mentor. Unbeknownst to Henry, Ernest’s ghost lingers nearby. The spirit watches over the boy while attempting to guide his aged friends to the evidence that will incriminate the men responsible for his death.The only person capable of seeing Ernest in his spectral form is Betty, his befuddled wife. But given that Betty suffers from dementia, no one believes her clairvoyant claims. Sal, a disabled veteran with a talent for finding clever uses for ordinary objects, has vowed to help his late friend’s widow however he can. He is joined by Betty’s friend Phyllis; a hoarder whose colossal handbag contains an abundance of ordinary objects, plus a tiny dog with a knack for locating items within the enormous bag. Hunted by desperate criminals and driven by supernatural forces, can Henry and this group of elderly misfits solve a deadly mystery before it is too late?
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Enraptured: A Novelette About Lamias

Enraptured: A Novelette About Lamias

Richard Martinus

Humor and Comedy / Fantasy

The Apocalypse may or may not be around the corner, but the lamias of Nether Parts Punishments, Afterlife Services England & Wales (Hell), have a more serious problem to deal with.The Apocalypse may or may not be around the corner, but the lamias of Nether Parts Punishments, Afterlife Services England & Wales (Hell), have a more serious problem to deal with. The delivery of twenty-eight unruly souls to the wrong address – viz, their office – and the subsequent overly energetic castigation of said souls by an unsupervised young demon on secondment, could lead to them facing one of the ultimate horrors the underworld has to offer: a disciplinary panel. Hell, we learn, can be almost as much of a trial for the staff as for the customers.
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An African Soccer Story

An African Soccer Story

Evadeen Brickwood

Young Adult / Mystery / Science Fiction

Download this short story for free.Thulani grows up in a South African village and all he wants to do is play soccer. When a scout from the big city arrives, Thulani doesn't pay much attention to the visitor and is far more interested in a special girl at school. If you liked Thulani's story, check out the youth booksGang of Losers is a coming-of-age drama set in the summer of 1983.Sixteen-year-old Theo Hanlon's main interests are drinking, girls, clothes, and most importantly playing the drums. He dreams of stardom, and can’t believe his luck when he is asked to drum for a local band on the verge of signing a record deal. But when he gets sacked in unceremonious circumstances, Theo starts a chain of events that sees him step from behind the drum kit and into the spotlight. Gang of Losers is a heartfelt and offbeat novel that captures the excitement of growing up and experiencing the intoxicating lure of music, sex, alcohol and independence for the first time.
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Gang Of Losers

Gang Of Losers

Chris Lynton

Chris Lynton

Gang of Losers is a heartfelt and offbeat novel about 16 year-old Theo Hanlon's efforts to make it as a musician and form a band. Set in the summer of 1983, the novel captures the excitement of growing up and experiencing the intoxicating lure of music, sex, alcohol and independence for the first time.Gang of Losers is a coming-of-age drama set in the summer of 1983.Sixteen-year-old Theo Hanlon's main interests are drinking, girls, clothes, and most importantly playing the drums. He dreams of stardom, and can’t believe his luck when he is asked to drum for a local band on the verge of signing a record deal. But when he gets sacked in unceremonious circumstances, Theo starts a chain of events that sees him step from behind the drum kit and into the spotlight. Gang of Losers is a heartfelt and offbeat novel that captures the excitement of growing up and experiencing the intoxicating lure of music, sex, alcohol and independence for the first time.
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Into the Triangle (Harmony)

Into the Triangle (Harmony)

C.O. Amal

Fiction / Horror / Science Fiction

After hearing the disappearance of the ship Harmony in the Bermuda triangle Jack Green set out on an incredible journey to Bermuda triangle in search for its underlying secrets. Through the interdimensional portal Jack Green enter into a whole new world where survival is very difficult. Meanwhile the aliens disguised in human form are planning something very naughty.After hearing the disappearance of the ship Harmony in the Bermuda triangle Jack Green set out on an incredible journey to Bermuda triangle in search for its underlying secrets. Through the interdimensional portal Jack Green enter into a whole new world where survival is very difficult. Meanwhile the aliens disguised in human form are planning something very naughty. Is human on earth actually humans. The ground breaking, horror story like you never experienced before.
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The Tenth Hole Bridge

The Tenth Hole Bridge

Andy Wilkinson

Andy Wilkinson

Bobby Lambert has been offered the deal of a lifetime to become the world’s best at something he loves: golf. But the cost is high … very high.excerpt:We leave the car and strip behind it. The boy turns shyly away, exposing the pearly white purity of his bare bottom. Safe from view, I enjoy the transitory thrill of standing naked in the world. Before slipping my trunks on, I look beyond the far side of the wired enclosure, remembering a place, now possessed by a cottage, where my father and mother and brother and I once long ago camped in a trailer. As we approach the gate again, I look beyond it, down the length of interlinked wire, towards the dwindling end of beach where my father always set the barbecue grill, away from children carelessly running about. I close my eyes and imagine him still standing there on a sandy crescent of shoreline, enclosed by the now becalmed water and a green profusion of cattails.A cool draft coming off the lake causes me to wonder if we have come too late. The possibility prompts the remembrance of another past summer day when the water proved too cold to go in. As I stood with my toes at the waterline looking out, a tall gangly girl my own age, with skin of shiny ebony and hair kinky black, approached holding in both hands a half-empty bottle of Fresca. Having little experience with unfamiliar girls, even less with black ones, I found her an interesting challenge. My eyes continually drew away from her face to her hair, woven into pigtails tied off at the ends with bits of red yarn. I particularly liked the way she talked, which imparted a slight trill to the words she spoke. But my every gambit to capture her interest failed until, replying, “Tosh,” to a bold hypothetical I expressed in an attempt to impress her, (that swimming would be far more comfortable if only a small piece of sun were to fall in the lake and warm it,) she turned away and went back to sit on the blanket next to her mother, who listened, smiling, holding a cigarette motionless to her lips, while between finishing sips of her Fresca the girl related what I’d said.
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Ghost Lake

Ghost Lake

Bernard Fancher

Short Stories

A father reconnects with his son on a trip to the lake, resurrecting more than just memories.excerpt:We leave the car and strip behind it. The boy turns shyly away, exposing the pearly white purity of his bare bottom. Safe from view, I enjoy the transitory thrill of standing naked in the world. Before slipping my trunks on, I look beyond the far side of the wired enclosure, remembering a place, now possessed by a cottage, where my father and mother and brother and I once long ago camped in a trailer. As we approach the gate again, I look beyond it, down the length of interlinked wire, towards the dwindling end of beach where my father always set the barbecue grill, away from children carelessly running about. I close my eyes and imagine him still standing there on a sandy crescent of shoreline, enclosed by the now becalmed water and a green profusion of cattails.A cool draft coming off the lake causes me to wonder if we have come too late. The possibility prompts the remembrance of another past summer day when the water proved too cold to go in. As I stood with my toes at the waterline looking out, a tall gangly girl my own age, with skin of shiny ebony and hair kinky black, approached holding in both hands a half-empty bottle of Fresca. Having little experience with unfamiliar girls, even less with black ones, I found her an interesting challenge. My eyes continually drew away from her face to her hair, woven into pigtails tied off at the ends with bits of red yarn. I particularly liked the way she talked, which imparted a slight trill to the words she spoke. But my every gambit to capture her interest failed until, replying, “Tosh,” to a bold hypothetical I expressed in an attempt to impress her, (that swimming would be far more comfortable if only a small piece of sun were to fall in the lake and warm it,) she turned away and went back to sit on the blanket next to her mother, who listened, smiling, holding a cigarette motionless to her lips, while between finishing sips of her Fresca the girl related what I’d said.
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In Daddy's Shoes

In Daddy's Shoes

Gerrard Wllson

Gerrard Wllson

Though she is walking in her father's shoes, a woman feels she will never be able to fill them.This essay received a standing ovation at a reading. A woman "talks" to her father after he has passed. She laments his passing, but grieves for the lost time between them while he was alive. Now that he has passed, she attempts to walk in his shoes but will never be able to fill them.
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Legs Through the Ceiling

Legs Through the Ceiling

Gerrard Wllson

Gerrard Wllson

“What is it?” mum asked us. “Don’t you know I am busy in the kitchen?”“MUM, THERE ARE LEGS IN HERE!” we cried out. “Legs?” she nervously replied. “DAD’S LEGS ARE DANGLING THROUGH A HOLE IN THE CEILING!” we told her, as we watched dad's legs thrash about adjacent our bedroom ceiling light.After Nathan is dumped by his girlfriend, he encounters a strange Taoist priest, and has many interesting debates throughout the night, but the next morning he finds that he has been transported fifteen years into the future. A revolutionary technology enables people to live and work in cyber space. People no longer want or need to drive cars, fly overseas, take drugs, smoke, eat junk food or worry about casual sex, because they can now do all of these things in a digital paradise. Nathan has a difficult time adjusting to the new world order. During a night out in a bar in cyber space a group of people attack a pretty girl and her mates. Nathan helps the girl fight off her attackers and discovers that he not only has super fighting skills but the girl he saved is Mary, the most wanted terrorist in the world. Now Nathan’s life is in turmoil. He has to decide whether to help the government destroy the terrorist organization that is responsible for the threat of global warming returning, or assist Mary in destroying the digital world that could ultimately lead to the end of humanity. The line between right and wrong is no longer clear and Nathan possesses the ultimate power to change the future. This story blends adventure, Kung-Fu and gun battles, and a heart-wrenching romance all mixed together in a new science fiction romance like you have never read before. Experience Nathan’s happiness, sadness, self-discovery and the struggle between life and death in this astonishing futuristic world.
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The Last Wild West Town - Whiz Bang City

The Last Wild West Town - Whiz Bang City

Bill Russo

Nonfiction / Cryptids

A Texas style ‘Tall Tale’ from Oklahoma, loaded with full historical action and half truths – Whiz Bang City depicts the final chapter of the bloody saga of the American West. It’s also the legend of the double-edged gunslinger hired by the big oil companies in 1921, “to use any and all methods necessary to tame the last ‘Wild West Town’After Nathan is dumped by his girlfriend, he encounters a strange Taoist priest, and has many interesting debates throughout the night, but the next morning he finds that he has been transported fifteen years into the future. A revolutionary technology enables people to live and work in cyber space. People no longer want or need to drive cars, fly overseas, take drugs, smoke, eat junk food or worry about casual sex, because they can now do all of these things in a digital paradise. Nathan has a difficult time adjusting to the new world order. During a night out in a bar in cyber space a group of people attack a pretty girl and her mates. Nathan helps the girl fight off her attackers and discovers that he not only has super fighting skills but the girl he saved is Mary, the most wanted terrorist in the world. Now Nathan’s life is in turmoil. He has to decide whether to help the government destroy the terrorist organization that is responsible for the threat of global warming returning, or assist Mary in destroying the digital world that could ultimately lead to the end of humanity. The line between right and wrong is no longer clear and Nathan possesses the ultimate power to change the future. This story blends adventure, Kung-Fu and gun battles, and a heart-wrenching romance all mixed together in a new science fiction romance like you have never read before. Experience Nathan’s happiness, sadness, self-discovery and the struggle between life and death in this astonishing futuristic world.
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Knights Of Bourde

Knights Of Bourde

Robert L. Shelby

Philosophy / Nonfiction

A short story about being lost and trying to find yourself; set to the background music of a famous psychedelic rock band. Nothing to do with knights or medieval times.After Nathan is dumped by his girlfriend, he encounters a strange Taoist priest, and has many interesting debates throughout the night, but the next morning he finds that he has been transported fifteen years into the future. A revolutionary technology enables people to live and work in cyber space. People no longer want or need to drive cars, fly overseas, take drugs, smoke, eat junk food or worry about casual sex, because they can now do all of these things in a digital paradise. Nathan has a difficult time adjusting to the new world order. During a night out in a bar in cyber space a group of people attack a pretty girl and her mates. Nathan helps the girl fight off her attackers and discovers that he not only has super fighting skills but the girl he saved is Mary, the most wanted terrorist in the world. Now Nathan’s life is in turmoil. He has to decide whether to help the government destroy the terrorist organization that is responsible for the threat of global warming returning, or assist Mary in destroying the digital world that could ultimately lead to the end of humanity. The line between right and wrong is no longer clear and Nathan possesses the ultimate power to change the future. This story blends adventure, Kung-Fu and gun battles, and a heart-wrenching romance all mixed together in a new science fiction romance like you have never read before. Experience Nathan’s happiness, sadness, self-discovery and the struggle between life and death in this astonishing futuristic world.
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The Awaited

The Awaited

Lundy Burge

Lundy Burge

A psychiatrist is sent to convince a young, painfully reclusive woman to leave her house, but soon comes to find that being a shut-in may be the least of her problems, as well as his.After Nathan is dumped by his girlfriend, he encounters a strange Taoist priest, and has many interesting debates throughout the night, but the next morning he finds that he has been transported fifteen years into the future. A revolutionary technology enables people to live and work in cyber space. People no longer want or need to drive cars, fly overseas, take drugs, smoke, eat junk food or worry about casual sex, because they can now do all of these things in a digital paradise. Nathan has a difficult time adjusting to the new world order. During a night out in a bar in cyber space a group of people attack a pretty girl and her mates. Nathan helps the girl fight off her attackers and discovers that he not only has super fighting skills but the girl he saved is Mary, the most wanted terrorist in the world. Now Nathan’s life is in turmoil. He has to decide whether to help the government destroy the terrorist organization that is responsible for the threat of global warming returning, or assist Mary in destroying the digital world that could ultimately lead to the end of humanity. The line between right and wrong is no longer clear and Nathan possesses the ultimate power to change the future. This story blends adventure, Kung-Fu and gun battles, and a heart-wrenching romance all mixed together in a new science fiction romance like you have never read before. Experience Nathan’s happiness, sadness, self-discovery and the struggle between life and death in this astonishing futuristic world.
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When The Water Burns

When The Water Burns

Anthony Awtrey

Anthony Awtrey

When an immortal water spirit draws the attention of an assassin, she must risk everything to save her only human friend.Tomas Salazar sailed into Key West on his charter boat, only intending to stay for a week or two. Then he met the beautiful and talented Kyla singing at the Parrot Dice Bar and Grill and stayed for five years, taking charters to make ends meet and hoping Kyla would eventually return his affection.Kyla appears to be a woman in her mid-twenties, but is actually an eternal elemental water spirit called an Ondine. Her kind were the truth behind legends like mermaids and the Sirens of Greek myth, which makes playing music in a beach side bar the perfect cover.When Veto Quesada comes into the bar, Tomas immediately recognizes the danger he represents. To earn the money to buy his boat, Tomas smuggled for the cartels and only ever feared the dead-eyed enforcers who killed for money.Tomas warns Kyla off when she becomes fascinated with a human seemingly immune to the power of her voice. When her fascination draws Veto's attention, she must risk everything to save her only human friend.
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Seven Rules

Seven Rules

Dayle MacKenzie

Dayle MacKenzie

Andy Anderson is not a happy lad. His father left him years ago, his mother ignores him and he has a reputation for being a bit of a ‘loose cannon’ at school.Andy Anderson is not a happy lad. His father left him years ago, his mother ignores him and he has a reputation for being a bit of a ‘loose cannon’ at school. So, it would have surprised no-one when Andy indulged himself in a little petty theft during a school trip.The mystic Talisman Andy ‘acquired’ had hidden powers that unlocked the gates of time and threw him back in history where his sudden appearance causes an innocent man to die a slow, lingering deathAided by his good mate Tim and unwittingly coerced by shadowy underworld guardians, Andy bounces between dates three hundred years apart and travels the globe to save the life he put in danger when he used the Talisman.On his travels Andy befriends an obnoxious blue-blooded playboy, London gangsters and Mayan warriors. To avoid capture by the evil sect pursuing him, Andy flies, crashes, fights, runs, gains a father, and even wades neck deep in poo.But it’s only when Andy thinks the danger has past and the end is near, the sect really have him in their sights.
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Tragedy of Life & Death

Tragedy of Life & Death

Jordan Siemens

Jordan Siemens

Elizabeth Finn has had a difficult life - losing both of her parents to living with step parents who spoil her to make up for not caring about her - until she finds Jacob who turns everything around for her, but then death strikes and Elizabeth is left in despair.Elizabeth Finn is like any normal teenage girl, only with the loss of both of her parents and left with step parents who spoil her rotten to make up for the fact they don't care about her or what she does. Her best friend makes up for her neglectful sister and step parents. Elizabeth meets Jacob in her sophomore year and he turns everything around for her. She falls in love and changes from a once monotone, depressed teenage girl to a happy, bubbly teenage girl, but then... Tragedy strikes. The love of her life - or so she thinks - is taken from her just as soon as he was introduced to her.
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